Bookmark the Memories: Climax
by waremono.Iv
Summary: Final clash between Bullets and Blades. Deadly girls; each with their own strengths and weaknesses. Here, Kuroko and the others finally learn about the "Game" and who these girls are. But truly, these girls are as fragile as torn pieces of paper. [Definite pairings: KurokoMomoi, AkashiTomimura, ImayoshiSakai, MurasakibaraGinmori, and the rest are a secret.]
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer** : Kuroko no Basuke is written and illustrated by Tadatoshi Fujimaki, published by Shueisha. Nothing belongs to me, but my fanfics and OCs are mine.

 **Author's Note** : This fanfic continues off where "Bookmark the Memories" left off. It's not considered as an sequel. It takes place whatever was last written in May 2015.

* * *

 **~ OCs Overview ~**

Below is a list of current all OCs that includes brief, random summaries. Rough drawings of Bullets and Blades can be found at my profile page where the link is provided.

The Bullets:

Tomimura Mizuki, 18, Sagittarius

 **Affinity with Kise Ryouta** : She used to have a slight crush on him when they were in their first year of school. It wasn't until their third year, they actually shared the same classroom. She transferred later, however. Presently, both are aware of each other's feelings, but she told him she would never choose him. And that someone else may need him more than she does.

 **Affinity with Akashi Seijuurou** : They both started out an 'love experiment' and gradually drew to one another. But because of he treated one of her friends, she wanted nothing to do with him. Since then, he began showing changes by treating her friends better and with respect.

 **Affinity with Moriyama Yoshitaka** : A brief moment when they shook hands, he said she was very soft. xD That's all really. I mention this because Moriyama = adorable dumbass.

Sakai Rin, 19, Libra

 **Affinity with Kise Ryouta** : They dated each other in the beginning. However, he had only eyes for Tomimura. She later accepted this and becomes friends with him instead. Even encouraging him and Tomimura to get together someday.

 **Affinity with Akashi Seijuurou** : He didn't like Sakai, stating that she was a weak person who uses other to make herself look good. They didn't get along for a while. Along the way, because of Tomimura, Akashi starts to consider his words and actions... which lead the others to think that one Akashi likes Sakai and the other Akashi towards Tomimura. At this point, Sakai had even warm up to Akashi, but doesn't hold romantic feelings for him.

 **Affinity with Imayoshi Shouichi** : As the Supervisor of the Bullets, he equally cares for all of the girls. For Sakai, he holds a little special place for her. He first met her other self, Rinki, and accepts the two of them as a single person. Imayoshi and Sakai get along pretty great.

 **Affinity with Himuro Tatsuya** : There was a time where she said she only likes talented men. Words like this simply drew him towards her.

 **Affinity with Mibuchi Reo** : Met only once. He asked Akashi for her number, but Akashi didn't want to share the information over and over. Mibuchi joked that Akashi can have her all to himself and never brought up Sakai's name again.

 **Affinity with Liu Wei** : She enjoys Chinese food and music. As soon as she learned he was from China, she began practicing speaking his language. She tends to forget about things when she's with him.

Seki Kiriko, 17, Leo

 **Affinity with Akashi Seijuurou** : None are attracted to each other, but are seemingly good friends. No one knows when he started to call her by her given name either and nobody ever wondered about it.

 **Affinity with Kagami Taiga** : Whether it was a joke or not, she claims he was her love rival. Other than that, they're on good terms. Now, they share the same pain of losing the one they love.

 **Affinity with Takao Kazunari** : Becomes interested in him because of the way he treats her so kindly. He has so many faces, she wants to see more. Also, she's quite forward with her feelings, even though she 'believes' he likes someone else and doesn't care how he reacts to her actions.

 **Affinity with Midorima Shintarou** : Begun to think she's falling for him too, but is sarcastic about it.

Moto Shizuka, 18, Aries

 **Affinity with Takao Kazunari** : He started out with a little crush on her because of her personality. Even kissed on a card that her lips touched. They dated, but nothing else happened between the two.

 **Affinity with Aomine Daiki** : Always looking bored, Moto does her best to hype things up and makes things fun for him. Even if she gets injured in the process. He obviously likes her, but denies it while Momoi teases him.

 **Affinity with Himuro Tatsuya** : Ends up liking him a lot, however things don't go the way they do. He grew into liking Sakai and Moto had no choice but to just let him go. May still have some feelings and doesn't let others know of it.

Fukui Kotone, 18, Virgo

 **Affinity with Midorima Shintarou** : Though she talks childishly, they appear to have an mutual respect and understanding to each other. Maybe he might even likes her because she's a Virgo.

 **Affinity with Murasakibara Atsushi** : They gave nicknames to each other, but those names are only for when they somehow get upset over each other. She acts like a mother/sister towards him and doesn't tolerate his rude behavior.

 **Affinity with Fukui Kensuke** : First time they were introduced to each other, they start calling each other 'Brother' and 'Sister' right away. It was a quick click and they get along perfectly.

Koizumi Sayuri, 18, Capricorn

 **Affinity with Himuro Tatsuya** : She finds him attractive, but keeps her distant. Because she tries so hard to do so, Himuro had a little interest at first. But time passes, the two pretty much forgot about each other.

 **Affinity with Kise Ryouta** : Maybe... _just_ maybe... She seems to get jealous when he's together with Tomimura. There are more reasons, yet this gets to her.

Yamauchi Takara, 17, Pisces

 **Affinity with Kagami Taiga** : They met at the first mixer and ended up as the pair for the day. Exchanging numbers and talking, she wasn't so sure about him during that time. When it came to basketball, she started to learn about the sport to be able to talk to Kagami too. Feelings developed for the two of them. Getting together and having fun... Unfortunately, she died.

Nakano Makoto

Someone who was already dead before the original story took place. Apparently, she was close friends with all Bullets, adoring Tomimura the most. Her death was not clear and her friends aren't even allowed to mention her at all. The only person with the important clue is Kasamatsu Yukio. An clue that could bring more tragic. Or possibly some hope.

* * *

The Blades:

Sakai Yua, 16, Scorpio

Depending on people think, she has a slight obsession with her older sister, Sakai Rin. If there were rude boys, she would try to keep them away from her Onee-sama. If there were boys asking Yua out, she would tell them she wasn't into relationships and that she doesn't have time for them. Her sole reason, to surpass her sister and to gain their father's share of love.

Ginmori Aimi, 20, Pisces

Titled as the Silver Blade. Leader of the Blades and the Silver Androids. She is highly respected and most calls her "Gin". Childhood friends with Okamura Kenichi and both are sworn siblings who lost contact for a long time. She once went to the Akashi Residence and attacked out of nowhere. Her reason still unknown. Ginmori's the type who doesn't go easy on anyone. Nor family and friends. Not even bystanders. But if it's Murasakibara...

Maki Ayane, 17, Virgo

Not much was mentioned because she died early in the story. Killed by Seki Kiriko.

Maki Chiyo, 17, Virgo

Titled as Crimson Blade. She's Ayane's twin sister, the one who swears and gets more angry. She cared for Ayane, so much she could kill anyone who harms her. She takes full responsibility for her own actions and acts tough all the time. After having to kill Yamauchi, she had a change of heart. Still acts the same either way.

Kurosei Chou, 17, Capricorn

Always carries a katana around. Her bangs often covering her eyes. Though she doesn't speak much, she appears to be close to Ginmori and Maki. What she doesn't like is someone ugly like Hanamiya Makoto.

Michibe Yuuka, 18, Aquarius

Kise's ex-girlfriend, who was said to have cheated on him in the past. Koizumi claimed that Michibe still loves Kise. Even so, Michibe doesn't express much concern but to tell Koizumi not to tell anyone. With love aside, Michibe had a greater ambition that no one knew of. To the point she had to betray her fellow Blades to achieve it too. Later, she was killed when she was weakened at the hospital.

Honda Ren, 18, Cancer

A close friend to Michibe and she deeply cares for her. Known for being ruthless and daring, Honda is shockingly engaged to a man named Katsuo and shows a great deal of attention towards him. She smokes too, but because Katsuo didn't want her to, she smokes less for his sake. It seems she holds hatred towards Seirin High's Basketball Team.

* * *

Other OCs:

 **Minami Kai** \- he is partners with Sakai Rin's father. Apparently, he's on a secret mission to hire a group of girls to be assassins. Hanamiya works with him and went undercover as the Supervisor of the Blades.

 **Seki Chizuru** \- he's the younger brother of Seki Kiriko. People noted he looks like Himuro Tatsuya. He used to date Sakai Rin's little sister.

 **Moto Oma** \- he's the second older brother of Moto Shizuka. He shows hate toward his own sister because of her joining the insane Game. He has more reasons for hating the Game as well.

 **Muyoku Etsuko** \- she is a short girl, but probably the oldest. She's very close to Ginmori and worries for all of the Blades. The Silver Androids, a gang led by Ginmori, calls Muyoku as "First-sama".

 **Muyoku Hayato** \- he is Muyoku Etsuko's younger brother. He's quite tall and moves on his own accord. The past few days, people are after his life. It was thought he raped Michibe, but truth was she lied and was only working with Hayato, along with Moto Oma. Later, even Alexandra Garcia is involved with them and she's rather confident about what she's doing.

 **Honda Katsuo** \- he's engaged to Honda Ren and loves her very much. Though he has looks that could pass as a weak girl, Akashi places trust in his basketball skills. Katsuo even has the Dead Zone that opposes the Zones of the Generation of Miracles. As Katsuo once mentioned, people who uses the Dead Zone are connected to one and another. Even if they don't know each other, they are aware of each other's presences.

 **Yoshida & Kuraki **\- team members of the Rakuzan's Basketball Team.

 **Akashi Ichirou** \- Seijuurou's father. He was in contact with Ginmori for some reason, but no more. When he saw Tomimura, he told his son to stop seeing her. Ichirou was not certain why, but knew she committed a sin. Truthfully, he still didn't mind what Akashi chose to do and was only worried about him. Ichirou even mentioned about Sakai, who reeked of blood.

 **Sakai Nobuyuki** \- Sakai Rin and Yua's father. He's serious about his work and tries his best to uncover the truth of the abnormal-patterned killings in the city. When it comes to Rin, he's awfully childish and forgets about the people around him. Obviously, he adores Rin the most.

 **Chika** \- Seki Kiriko and Chizuru's mother. A crazy driver.

 **Yamauchi Taiki** \- father of Takara, who works overseas. Even though his daughter is dead, he openly accepts Kagami as his son-in-law. And rather comically, yet seriously.

 **April** \- wife of Taiki and mother of Takara. Works with Taiki overseas too. They have connections with Akashi's father; Ichirou.

 **Sueyoshi** \- a co-worker of Sakai Nobuyuki and Minami Kai.

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

At one of the train stations in Kanagawa, Kasamatsu was prepared to head back to Tokyo. Even though it was summer break, he could pay Kise a visit since he stayed in the city for the night... he was not in the mood. Today might not be a good day either. Especially when he saw Michibe, Kise's ex-girlfriend, being taken to the hospital. ' _I wonder how that went_?' he thought to himself, staring clear sky.

Heat of the summer and the sound of the train was approaching. Kasamatsu was suddenly was reminded of Nakano. The girl who followed him from middle school to Kaijō High. Summer made him think of her these days. The train station caused him to remember about the time when she was seeing him off, who had to attend Tokyo U.

Kasamatsu made a sharp turn and begun leaving the station. ' _I can't leave Kanagawa yet_ ,' he mused. ' _Nakano said in the letter that the Game is taking lives_.' He wanted to leave. It was hard to be in the city again. But he knew it was right to stay, even if it was dangerous.

The letter that never said 'goodbye'... Kasamatsu was told everything. He memorized the words before he had burned it to ashes last night.

According to Nakano's writing, Sakai's name was mentioned. She was also involved with the Game. He did not know her, but recalled Imayoshi is acquainted with her, assuming it was the same girl that Kasamatsu saw. After that, he had ran into Tomimura, a kouhai.

Fortunately, Nakano mentioned Tomimura, who was surprisingly a Bullet. When he ran into her, he wasn't capable of telling her because he didn't know how to handle the truth of the Game yet. Now, he needed to see her. He _has_ to.

The problem was, where could she be?

~o~o~

Out of the bathroom and with slow movements, Tomimura was pressing her nostrils together with her index finger and her thumb. The moment she woke up in the morning, she had a bleeding nose because the house gotten hot all of the blue, which was odd. Maybe the air conditioner broke. She planned on checking it later until the bleeding stop.

Within small steps, she glanced to the living room. And sighed as her eyes flattened over to the half-naked Aomine. It seemed he had thrown his shirt over on Kagami's belly, who snored. Kuroko was as silent as ever, almost making Tomimura forgetting he was even there.

"Tomi-cchi," whispered Kise. Turning her eyes to the kitchen, she saw Kise walking up to her with a glass of water in his hand. His hair was messy and she smiled behind her hand that still pressed to prevent the blood from flowing out. "What's wrong? Why are you holding your nose like that?" He even sniffed around to check for any strange scent.

She gestured with her head to the back door and walked off. Kise blinked, following her as they both made their way outside. Once they stepped into the backyard, Kise slowly closed the door and faced her. "I had a little nosebleed," she answered him, yet spoke quietly. She did not want to wake up the boys indoors.

Gasping, he leaned forward, "Are you okay?"

"Of course," she flatly told him. "It's just the heat, Kise. The bleeding will stop very soon."

He smiled awkwardly, eyeing her closely. "Well then, Fukui and Seki had left while Midorima-cchi tagged along," he notified. She nodded, remembering hearing the sound of the door earlier in the morning. "So, does Momoi-cchi snore?" he asked with an curious smile.

The blonde was seriously cute like that. Tomimura smiled again. "Not at all," she replied as she thought back. She and Momoi were sleeping together in her own room, while Seki, Fukui, and Moto took Nakano's old bedroom. "She's very sweet and sleeps rather quickly. Made me envious because I couldn't sleep well."

Kise looked concerned as he tilted his glass of water a bit. "You couldn't?" he questioned, making an upside down smile.

She waved her hand gently, "I was having a little headache. That's all."

Nearly shouting, he instead whispered loudly, "You were not feeling well?! Oh, Tomi-cchi!" He whined and pouted at the door as if he was directing it to someone _inside_. "And Aomine-cchi kept bothering for a change of clothes too! I'm glad Kuroko and Momoi went with him for the last minute shopping before heading to bed!"

Chuckling, Tomimura assured, "No, it's fine. Aomine is a little annoying, but it's not like I don't like him." Kise looked at her childishly, as if frustrated, and she smiled. "And I thought it was cute how Kuroko and Momoi used Aomine to buy Kagami's clothing size." They were such good friends, it was obvious these people had bickered many times in the past to reach such a point.

Kise snickered, slightly covering his mouth, "That's actually a joke that comes around sometimes, especially with their shoe size." She blinked as he tugged his shirt, "And they bought something a little over-sized for me. I don't know how I'm going to walk back home like this!"

"You're leaving soon then?" she asked rather quickly. Almost like she wanted him to stay a little longer.

Just before he answered, Moto had jumped from the door and leaped onto Kise's back. Because of that, Kise's glass of water flew out and splashed Tomimura's face. "Kise-san, Tomimura-chan!" Moto chirped, _whispering_ , of course. "Good morning~!" Tomimura frowned and Kise held in a laugh at her silent, drenched expression. Though, he looked sorry when she glared his way. Moto set foot on the ground, but still lean her weight on the blonde. "Sorry, did I interrupt something?"

"No," Tomimura walked around them, heading back into the house.

"Why are you holding your nose like that?" Moto hopped to watch her go. She grinned and immediately concluded, "Aomine-san's body too hot for you, I see." She had saw the bluehead in such a state when she passed through the living room, pretending Tomimura was a pervert, thus the nosebleed.

Tomimura continued to take her leave as Moto giggled. Kise directed a small smile to Moto and told her, "It's the heat." He wanted to explain it and yet Moto kept giggling.

"Oh, it is the _heat_ all right~" she snickered, grinning and clapping her hands together. Then she skipped through the back door and went after Tomimura, who had already gone through the living room. No one seemed to notice Kuroko had woken up to the footsteps, which faded into Tomimura's bedroom.

Moto had closed the bedroom door and glanced around her friend's room. Tomimura grabbed a cloth and pressed it to dry her face where the water dripped. "Tomimura-chan, your room still look the same since we've met," Moto commented, childishly taking a seat on the gray carpet. Tomimura uttered nothing and slowly let her nose go. It was no longer bleeding, but she looked at her small mirror at the dresser to be sure. "Hey, hey, I found a book in Nakano's room," Moto grinned.

Instantly, Tomimura flattened her eyes at her and the girls were quiet. "...You read it?"

Guilty chuckles crawled out of her mouth and she kicked her legs up. "Sorry!" she winked, remaining seated. "But I only skimmed through it! I saw a page filled with Akashi-sama's names too!"

Tomimura squinted her eyes, "Akashi... _sama_?"

"And it wasn't like I was scoping around," Moto defended rather late, smiling softer. "It's only because I had this strange dream, which I thought it was because an special object must have been nearby." Tomimura patted her damped face slowly with the cloth, listening attentively. "So, I was sparked with curiosity, pondering what gave me that dream. Next I searched for your book. Or notebook? Well. Sorry, again, Tomimura-chan."

There was no need to get upset. Tomimura let the matter slid, she queried however, "What did you dream about?" Then again, Tomimura knew the answer because this was not the first time Moto talked about her dreams, which were _supposedly_ often unique. It surprises Tomimura, even now.

"You know that I mostly forget my dreams after waking up," Moto lazily dropped to the side, beaming widely. Then she rolled until she touched Tomimura's feet with the side of her belly. Smiling up at Tomimura's expressionless face from the floor, she added, "Although, I do remember seeing a little girl with white-ish, blond hair when I was dreaming." There was a pause and Moto detected Tomimura's mood becoming negative. Her friend's eyes darkened with a hint of sadness and Moto smiled warmly. "...What's for breakfast, Tomimura-chan?"

It was best to change the topic. Moto was not fond of the energy Tomimura gave off. Hopefully, it merely was the heat that got to her and _not_ what she mentioned.

As for Tomimura, she was not able to respond and dried her face as she looked away. ' _As usual, Moto can still sense these kinds of things_ ,' Tomimura thought, her eyelids feeling heavy.

Often it was Fukui who would become aware of things that brought her friends down. She would take care of everybody too. But in these kinds of cases, it was Moto's specialty to feel the supernormal.

Now that she was musing about this, she wondered if Moto was still playing with her tarot cards. Was it after Nakano's death that Moto had stop bringing it up...?

~o~o~

Speaking of the heat, Koizumi wore a long face as she trailed by Ginmori's side. ' _When will the month end already_?' Koizumi frowned, raising her hair up and letting the breeze cool her down. Ginmori chuckled, walking with an relaxed smirk. Behind these two, they strolled together with Honda, Muyoku, Kurosei, and Maki.

Koizumi glanced back to Maki, who had bandages over her left eye that went around her black hair. Maki glared as soon as they made eye contact and Koizumi calmly looked away. Kurosei tilted her head as Maki sighed heavily. Honda ignored the girls, talking on her phone quietly while Muyoku seemed to keep an eye out for something. Or maybe it was someone?

Down the street they took, they were going to meet up with Yua. But first, Honda and Muyoku had other plans, in which they were not going with the others to eat ice cream.

"Gin," Honda quickly flipped her cell phone closed and put it away. They were still walking as Ginmori slightly looked over her shoulder. "Zwei is waiting at the bar around the corner."

The Silver Blade nodded once, her eyes returning to the front. Koizumi raised an eyebrow to herself, wondering who this Zwei person was. She kept quiet and minded her own business, paying attention to her long hair that made the back of her neck _sweat_.

After taking fifty more steps, Ginmori leaded them around the four streets that meet. Shortly, Ginmori stopped by a sign standing by a bar. She smirked as a girl with a black cap to greet her with a wave. "Zwei, Honda and Muyoku are to go with you," Ginmori commanded.

The girl with the cap tilted sideways, eyed at the group who all stopped walking behind Ginmori. Her brown eyes disregarded all but Muyoku and she shrugged with saying a word.

Koizumi studied her figure for a second. Zwei, a girl with brown hair that overlapped her collarbone, appeared cautious of every movement. For a girl wearing torn shirt and jeans, her movement itself was smooth. She even saw this girl had an silver ear cuff on her left ear. ' _An Silver Android_ ,' Koizumi recognized the trademark of Ginmori's gang.

As Honda went forward to be by Zwei's side, Muyoku rushed to Ginmori and smiled brightly. "Gin-sama, I'll see you soon," she said.

"Be careful, Etsuko," Ginmori gave an half smile.

Muyoku nodded and turned to head off first. But then Zwei called, "First-sama, just a moment."

The shortest girl, who was probably the oldest, stopped in place and looked back. "What is it, Zwei-chan?" Muyoku blinked a couple of times, wondering if something was off.

The new girl eyed Ginmori, her voice in monotone, "I got word that Murasakibara Atsushi just arrived in Kanagawa, Gin-sama."

As Ginmori smirked, Koizumi made a faint expression of shock. "That's strange," Ginmori chuckled a second after. "Thank you, Zwei."

The girl with the cap shrugged indifferently and Honda looked to the silverhead. "Gin, you're keeping tabs on _that_ guy?" Honda inquired, baffled by this. Again, Koizumi was puzzled, feeling completely at lost. "Why so? Is he trouble?"

"Of course not."

Honda furrowed her eyebrows, "...Then what the hell is up?"

Maki and Kurosei were interested at this point. Ginmori sneered, "Must I answer you, Ren?"

The only one who flinched was Muyoku. Honda glared at Ginmori and snorted. "Fine, whatever," Honda spun the other way and stomped off. "Let's go, Zwei, Muyoku."

Koizumi stared at the trio departing together and soon focused her attention to the side of Ginmori's face. The silverhead chuckled and sheepishly smiled, "Now... let's hope we don't run into Atsushi."

"Why?" Ginmori smiled to Koizumi who raised question. Koizumi's dull red eyes stared right at her and she continued, "Don't tell me you're attracted to that giant. He's quite irritating."

"Aw," the Silver Blade grinned, moving her feet to face Koizumi. "I think otherwise."

Confused, Koizumi hid it and asked, "Then why avoid him?"

Ginmori chuckled, "...Must I answer you, Sayuri?"

Whereas Koizumi frowned, Maki voiced, "Keep asking and Gin will say the same thing over and over. This will _never_ change." Koizumi remained looking at Ginmori, heeding Maki's words. "She likes to keep her own private matters to herself. Get use to it."

The heat was unbearable yet again, so Koizumi ignored the topic. "It's not like I was interested anyway," Koizumi said, narrowing her eyes to nowhere. "Can we move on now? I need some ice cream."

"Yes. Ice cream," Kurosei nodded, adjusting her katana bag over her right shoulder.

Lightly, Ginmori laughed, "As soon as Yua meet up with us, we'll go."

Koizumi sighed at the thought of more waiting, but was patient enough. Maki felt her left eye aching, so she shut her mouth to made the pain go away. Kurosei glanced at Maki, staying close to make sure if she was needed.

' _And why do a few call Muyoku "First-sama" for_?' Koizumi finally gave a little regard. It was strange at first, but she never asked and minded her own business. She might even continue to not question about such a name as well. But curiosity kept poking her.

~o~o~

The summer sun heated up rather quickly, however this only added to Yua's enthusiasm to have ice cream in such a weather. She jogged joyfully, her blond hair behind her as she made her way down the sidewalk. It felt like she was alone in the world, which was comforting once and a while.

But now, she desired to spend time with the Blades. A child like her, it was easy to forget how cruel the world might become.

Before long, Yua reached to the designated meetup. It was at a large water fountain, where the water that seemed to dance into the air. Tall green trees provided shades from the sunlight and Yua was quick to search the others under them. "Eh?" Yua saw them, but blinked directly at Koizumi who seemed to have accompanied the Blades.

Kurosei and Maki noticed Yua before Ginmori and Koizumi did. There was this pause in the heat when Yua gazed over to Maki's patched left eye. Obviously, Maki knew Yua did not hear about yesterday's incident and pretended there was nothing wrong with her.

"Yua," Ginmori called. "If you're here, then let us be off."

Smoothly, the blonde snapped out of it and forced a small smile. For now, she wanted to smile as Maki seemed like she was not going to talk about what happened. Neither did Kurosei and Ginmori. Going forward, Yua waved, "Okay, let's go!"

"Never mind," Maki glared, hurrying off by herself. Koizumi took a glance back and saw Kurosei rushing with Maki. "I'm not feeling well, so I'm heading back."

"Suit yourself," Ginmori said and didn't even look. She moved on while Yua and Koizumi were watching Maki taking her sudden leave. Kurosei was still following right after her too. "Yua, Sayuri. Come on," Gin called.

Without much thought, Koizumi went along with Ginmori.

As for Yua, she was worried now. Maki seemed unusual this time, even if her behavior was a little the same as usual. Yua pouted a little and waved to Maki's back, praying for her well being. Then she turned her body to follow Koizumi and Ginmori.

~o~o~

At Tomimura's place, everyone was pretty much awake. For Moto, she got a call from her mom a few minutes ago. It had something to do with a Psychic Convention nearby, so Moto left as soon as she could. It was the minute after Aomine finally woke up, but he was still sleepy and only sat there for a while.

Cooking breakfast, Kagami was in the kitchen whereas Kuroko was helping out. Aomine yawned, opening his mouth widely and little tears filled in his eyes. He smacked his mouth as Kuroko and Kagami continued making 'cooking' noises from the next room while his eyes were staring at the bedroom doors. He was daydreaming, thus was not paying attention where he was looking at. And when the door on the right opened, the door closer to the entrance of the house, Aomine raised his head higher to focus his vision.

The pinkheaded skipped out as Tomimura followed and closing the bedroom door. Both of them were standing there and discussing about something. Aomine was not listening since what happened yesterday bothered him. And that talk with the guys at the Yamauchi Residence, he knew the secret of the Game should not be revealed until the girls felt like sharing. Or either, at the very least, when they were safe and alone to go into details.

Aomine wanted answers, but he glanced to Momoi. He wanted her to have nothing to do with the secret and let it slide for now.

"Where's Kise?" Aomine finally realized as he bothered to scan around.

"Ki-chan left," Momoi replied, bubbling over with excitement. She rushed into the living room and sat down in front of him. Tomimura frowned as soon as Momoi informed, "Did you hear? Apparently Ki-chan and Akashi-kun had this thing going on with Tomimura-chan!"

Flattening his eyes, he seemed unconcerned. "...Your point, Satsuki?"

She giggled, "I just wanted to tell you since Tomimura-chan said it was okay because it's out in the open!"

"I never heard of it," Kuroko appeared closer to them now.

Tomimura heaved out a short sigh, hoping everyone was not going to make a fuss about the matter. "Anyhow, are you guys seriously staying here until Takao is out of the hospital?" she inquired, looking from one person to another.

Kuroko nodded, "That was the plan, was it not?" Tomimura folded her arms to her chest and looked disturbed. When she gazed over to him, he seemed apologetic and she raised her hand. "Tomimura-san?"

"It's fine if you guys stay," she honestly said, her eyes rather emotionless. She noticed this was actually a good thing and she wanted to hide her feelings about it. Yet, she honestly told him, "It's nice to have company because I live here by myself."

The Phantom Man blinked a couple of times, looking like he wanted to know something. Aomine yawned and Momoi smiled, "Thank you again, Tomimura-chan."

"...You're welcome," she returned a smile to the pink head.

"Where are your parents then?" Kuroko inquired. This was what he sought to ask when Tomimura just mentioned she lived by herself.

At first, there was a pause. Tomimura nearly turned away, however she found no need to. "They're probably being reincarnating right now," she shrugged. Kuroko was expressionless and Tomimura thankfully smiled. "My aunts are the ones watching over me on this side of the world."

"I see," Kuroko nodded. His own smile was faint and Tomimura's face looked more livelier because of it.

Momoi giggled and stood up. She could feel Tomimura's stiffness was wearing off from the heat by Kuroko's presence and stepped toward the girl. "Hey, Tomimura-chan, you should think about coming to sleep over at my place some time," she gave a toothy grin. Tomimura eyed her and seemed unsure. "Aomine-kun is pretty much next door too! It'll be convenient for a hangout!"

"No, thank you," Tomimura instantly refused at Aomine's name.

The bluehead was bored and said, "That was _fast_." She probably did not like him, but who cares?

"Breakfast is almost ready!" Kagami called, busying himself all the while. He even thought, ' _Are we seriously just going to live here until Takao gets better_?' It sounded amusing, but on the other hand, he wasn't so sure. What if they get pulled deeper into the truth of the Game that Yamauchi had lost her left to? Kagami spaced out, worrying if they should flat out ask Tomimura right now.

Seriously, for girls like her to play such a game, it made no absolute sense to him. The more he kept thinking about, the more he just wanted to ask.

~o~o~

Time seemed slow as Murasakibara stretched his arms into the cloudy sky. "Aw man, I'm tired!" he groaned and looked completely exhausted. He lowered his eyes to his friends, who paced forward. Dragging the wheeled suitcases in hand, Murasakibara followed them willingly and was soon uncomfortable with the hot air among them. "Hey, is the hotel close by yet?" the purple haired guy sounded like he was about to complain.

With Liu and Okamura leading, Himuro and Fukui behind them looked over their shoulders to the tallest person. Himuro chuckled, "It's only around the corner now, Atsushi." Murasakibara still looked upset though and Himuro grabbed out a candy out of nowhere. Completely silent, Murasakibara took the candy and hurried to unwrap it with the help of one hand and his teeth.

Fukui returned his eyes to the front just the moment Okamura grumbled and said, "It's because a cab can't fit all of us _together_ and we didn't prepare much money to pay for a ride...!" Paying for a room at the hotel was costly enough too!

"I did suggest each of us take a cab each," Fukui reminded calmly with a grin on his lips.

Okamura snapped his head to the shortest, "We didn't bring that much money this time around, okay?! We need to save for food since we don't know how long we're going to stay here!"

Fukui nodded firmly, "Just saying."

No one noticed, but Liu had just dialed Sakai's number. And she greeted happily, "Liú Wěi, nǐ hǎo (hello)! What's up?"

"My friends and I came to Kanagawa," he reported as if this was important.

"Oh my goodness, for real?!" she gasped and something fell in the background. It did not sound like she got hurt, so he dismissed it.

Liu replied, "Yes. We are going to drop our stuff at a hotel in about a minute or two."

"Wow, okay!" she giggled, her voice ringing in his ears. "You called to meet up somewhere? I mean—that's why you called, right? Ah, hold on, I need at least two hours...!"

He blinked, feeling someone tugging his shirt from behind. "Truthfully... I called because Murasakibara wanted to get a hold of you earlier this morning," he told her.

"Ehhh?" she sounded disappointed.

Right there, Liu wanted to apologized even though he did nothing wrong. But a strong hand had grabbed for his phone, which was Murasakibara, who demanded right away, "Give me Ai-chin's number!"

"What?!" Okamura inched closer to the two. "Don't tell me you wanted the girl's number just to get to Mimi, Murasakibara!"

On the other line, Sakai was confused who they were even talking about. She did slowly recall hearing about 'Mimi' when she was with the girls at Okamura's apartment before.

Fukui and Himuro watched the guys from where they were, but then they eventually stopped when Murasakibara ordered again, "Her _number_."

"I want to know too!" Okamura voiced loudly toward the phone.

Liu grabbed his phone back from Murasakibara's lax hand and put it on speaker phone. "Sakai, I apologize for that," he said, eyeing both of his friends unconcernedly. Okamura was rubbing the back of his head with an uneasy smile and Murasakibara did not seemed shameful for his behavior.

"Who's Mimi?" Sakai asked. "I never heard of this person before. And why do your friends think I know this person?"

"Um," Murasakibara bothered to recall. "I think Muro-chin mention your given name was Rin, right?"

Himuro blinked and Sakai answered, "Yeah. So?"

Thinking again, the purplehead pointed out, "I think Ai-chin said something like she didn't want to see you."

"...Eh?" Sakai was clearly still puzzled.

"She was there on Liu-senpai's first night in Akita," Murasakibara clarified. It was the time when Sakai and her friends entered Okamura's apartment and Ginmori left through the window. Murasakibara suddenly smiled to himself, remembering how cool she was when she did that.

Okamura frowned, "Geez, Murasakibara!" He was making this hard for the girl on the other side of the call. Turning to the cellphone, Okamura stated, "Her full name is Akimo—er—Ginmori Aimi. Do you know her, Sakai?"

While there was a silence, Fukui looked at Himuro, "Why do these guys want this Mimi's number again?"

Himuro gave it some thought. "...Who knows?" At the very least, he now knew Murasakibara wanted Sakai's number to call for another girl's number. What was more, Himuro was interested to why Murasakibara wanted to talk to this other girl so much. As for Okumura... Himuro had no idea what was going through his head.

~o~o~

"How do you guys know Gin-chan?" Sakai pouted in her bedroom, fixing her shoe boxes that had fallen seconds ago. With the way these two guys were calling Ginmori nicknames, she felt a bit defensive. Were they close to Ginmori? Sakai never knew of this!

Murasakibara retorted, "I just want her number."

And if they knew Ginmori, this was not a good situation for anyone. Sakai was clear about this and rather have these guys stay away from Kanagawa. Yet, how could she convince them to go away when they arrived?

Sakai continued to pout and informed, "Gin-chan doesn't have a phone. Sorry, I can't help you there." Honestly, she does not even know. All she could recall, Ginmori never held a phone since the night Nakano passed away. Who knows if she has one on her now?

"Tell me where she lives then," Murasakibara casually told her.

Okamura added, "Will you please tell me too? I really wish to see how she's doing, Sakai-chan!"

The blonde grinned childishly and giggled, "I'm sorry, I do not know this either. Gin-chan loves to come and go~"

"Oh, that's true," Okamura considered it carefully.

"I don't care," Murasakibara sounded angry. "You're useless, Sakai."

"Atsushi!" Himuro's voice was heard.

Fukui even said, "That was rude."

Sakai laughed though and directed her words to Liu, "Hey, Liú Wěi, call me again later when you guys are ready for a tour or something." She wanted to be sure the guys are away from the Silver Androids as she possibly could. It was a plus if she hangs out with Liu too.

"Of course," Liu responded. "I will be certain to do that, Sakai. We'll see you in two hours." He remembered that was what she said, that she need at least two hours.

She smiled, "Okay, thanks. Bye bye."

"See you later, Sakai."

She hung up first, or so she thought. Lowering the devise, her heart fell. "Useless, huh?" she blinked slowly. She did not fully register those words in her head, but when she did, it seemed it hurt her more than she previously thought. Smiling sadly, she agreed, "I guess I'm useless sometimes, huh, Nakano-chan...?"

For not being able to save her friend that night, it had been the only moment Sakai had felt utterly powerless.

"No time to think about this," she shook her head. "I need to head to Tomi-chan's place before Liú Wěi calls again."

* * *

Thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer** : Kuroko no Basuke is written and illustrated by Tadatoshi Fujimaki, published by Shueisha. Nothing belongs to me, but my fanfics and OCs are mine.

 **Note to self** : This chapter was updated on February 15, 2016.

 **Author's Note** : This story is not proofread and this story will slowly update. It's because I do rather want to use my time to translate Chinese animation series. Because I'm not Chinese, it takes me longer to translate.

However, it feels wonderful that people still follow and favorite this story. xD I sometimes wonder, why are they still interested?

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

Jogging, Seki had an urgent look on her face. Behind her was Midorima, who demanded, "Seki, about what Fukui mentioned earlier!"

They just exited Takao's room in the hospital, and headed off to who knows where. Seki ignored Midorima and waved without looking back. "I have things to do," she told him. "Go back and keep Takao company, you."

"Seki!" he continued to call, getting annoyed. He kept on going after her, walking pass the other people nearby.

Feeling guilty, she slowed down. Clueless, Midorima did the same. Suddenly, she made a U-turn and headed back where they came from. Midorima grew a vein on his head, but he didn't mind much. Because just now, the look in her irritating eyes changed. She seemed... as if she was scared.

In the room where Takao was in, he was still sitting up in the same spot and blinked when the couple returned. Takao already noticed Seki's mood and put up a comforting smile. "Ready to tell us?" he asked. Whatever it was, he had a hunch it might have something to do with Maki and the others girls yesterday.

Seki sighed softly and heard Midorima closing the door. With the three of them alone in the room, she listened to the faint voices outside. _'Did Fukui seriously want me to tell these guys?_ ' she stared at the ground, standing very still. ' _Especially the Boss_.'

As difficult it was, Midorima tried to assure her, "It's safe here. Tell us."

For a second, Seki winced at the thought of Yamauchi's dead body. She didn't wish for the same to happen to these two guys either. But then she recalled Kise, who was still alive. Perhaps they would be fine too. Yet, this was not guaranteed. "Okay, um," she cleared her throat.

While she was taking a deep breath, Takao slowly questioned, "What... did Fukui-chan want you to tell us?" He wanted to be sure Seki was embracing whatever was going to be said.

"It..." she fixed her glasses over and over. She avoided eye contact, but soon met Takao's eyes. Midorima stood next to her, waiting patiently. "It was easier to tell Kise about this before Yamauchi died..."

"And you're worried about letting us know now?" Takao inquired, his expression becoming as serious as Midorima's. And what did Yamauchi have to do with this?

Seki nodded and gathered up her courage. "Alright," she whispered to herself. Getting herself together, she made sure to face both of the guys in the quiet atmosphere. "The girls you two met yesterday... Maki, that girl with the silver hair, and possibly the others. They're a part of a group called Blades."

Midorima raised his hand to Takao, who was about to interrupt.

She continued, taking out her phone at the same time, "Then there's a group called the Bullets. I'm a part of that. As well as Fukui, Koizumi, Tomimura, Sakai, Moto, and... Yamauchi."

She checked her phone, a report about yesterday's incident that was given by her Boss. Takao raised an eyebrow at her and the phone. Reviewing a text message, she closed it and looked at Midorima. He, himself, was ready what may come out of her mouth.

"The Boss of the Bullets is allowing us to tell you guys. The reason being that you're already involved with the Blades yesterday. Because of that, the Boss of the Blades sent a threat to my Boss."

~o~o~

At Tomimura's house, everyone finished their short breakfast and the one who was cleaning up was Kuroko and Tomimura. She was rinsing the dishes and he was drying them. In the living room, Momoi was trying to make sure Kagami and Aomine don't randomly bicker out of nowhere, but she wanted to be amused and observed them while they chatted.

When the job of rinsing was over, Tomimura took a cloth to ready and dry them. But then she flinched and realized Kuroko was still here. He was holding out his hand for the plate in her hands. "Oh, right," she remembered, handing it to him. He smiled and gladly did his part. "...Kuroko, you're so strange."

He looked at her, drying the last plate gently. "Am I?" he asked.

Nodding, she told him, "You're like a ghost. It scares me a little."

He focused on the plate again without a word. Tomimura dried her hands and set the cloth to the side. "Don't be," he smiled to himself. She lightly chuckled and nodded again.

When he was done, he went to the living room while Tomimura watched him. Momoi greeted him right away, "Thanks for the work, Tetsu-kun!"

"Yeah, unlike someone here," Kagami grumbled.

Aomine knew that was hinted at him and snarled, "Whatever."

Making an dry expression, Tomimura shook her head at Kagami and Aomine, who had nothing to do but talk back to each other. It didn't seem harmful, but still childish. She leaned back against the counter and looked a tad distant. '... _I wonder if the other girls got that text message from Boss_ ,' she thought to herself.

Apparently, their Boss said to reveal the Game to Midorima and Takao. The Boss of the Blades threatened if those two leaked any information about the Game, then the friends of the Bullets would be dragged with them. Even the whole city itself. Due to the fact that the Silver Blade encountered them, the guys mind as well learn about the whole thing.

This confused Tomimura, as probably the other girls too. She didn't understand why Midorima and Takao have to learn more about this. Pondering about it made her a little scared. ' _Boss even declared they're going to speed up the next round_ ,' she stared nowhere with this thought.

Even though she had her own reason for joining in the first place, it started to feel as if the Game was truly wrong. Yes, at this point it was.

There was a knock on the door, bringing Tomimura's thoughts into a halt. Kuroko had gone to do the honor and see who it was. The moment Tomimura reached to the living room, it was Sakai at the door.

"Hello!" the blonde waved high up in the air. "Eh? This is everyone? No Kise-kun and Moto-chan?"

Kuroko closed the door and people were now in the same room. Tomimura blinked, "Why are you here, Sakai?"

Seated on the ground, Kagami and Aomine looked their way as Momoi waved. "Good morning, Sakai-chan," Momoi smiled first.

Sakai grinned, "Morning to you too, Momo-chan!" Then she quickly looked around, but snickered and rushed to sit between Aomine and Kagami. "Okay, since the big change was announced, I have to know now!"

Kuroko approached closer, joining them on the floor, circling around the coffee table. Tomimura stood where she was at and queried, "What do you mean by that?" Was Sakai going to reveal the Game to these people too? Hope not. It wasn't in the Boss's message.

The blonde turned in her seat, facing Kuroko who was sitting beside Momoi. "It's about Nakano-chan," she boldly stated. Now Tomimura eagerly joined them, sitting between Aomine and Momoi. The mention of Nakano's name rarely came out in the open before. It must mean something.

Blinking a couple of times, Kuroko stared back at Sakai, who calmly breathed. Momoi was the one to question, "You know Nakano, Sakai-chan?"

Nodding twice, Sakai gestured to Kuroko. "Please, show it to Tomi-chan, Kuro-kun," she requested.

It appeared like Kuroko had no idea what she was talking about. Aomine spoke just when Kuroko reached into his pocket. "Give what?" Aomine rudely eyed the blonde. Kuroko handed a metal piece out, displaying it on the table. "Oh," Aomine now stared at the object.

Kagami leaned in. "Are... those words on it?" he asked, noticing a sentence that was cut off of some sort.

Right away, Tomimura recognized the handwriting. As if it was urgent, which it was, she immediately asked, "Kuroko, where did you find this?"

He blinked. And Momoi turned to her, "Hayato told us to keep it safe. What is this, Tomimura-chan? Do you know what this means?" She had always wondered about because Hayato never told them anything. Whatever it was, it couldn't be good.

"Hayato?" Sakai squinted her eyes, dismissing Momoi's question first. "Who's Hayato?"

"What this, seriously?" Kagami pointed to the metal piece, looking around at the girls.

Aomine picked it up and looked at it, wondering what it was too. "I see some rust," he noted with an blank expression. Sakai took it from him and placed it back on the table.

"Okay, first of all," Tomimura directed her voice to Kuroko. "Someone named Hayato gave you this? Where?"

Finally being able to talk, he answered, "Back home, Tokyo. It was only four days ago."

Momoi nodded as Sakai and Tomimura were shock about the short amount of time. "I was there too," Momoi soon briefed. "We don't know who Hayato is, but he entrusted Kuroko with this. He said he would come back after a month to retrieve it."

"Hayato...?" Sakai rubbed her chin. She begun to feel she heard a name like that before. Not really a common name, but she definitely heard it somewhere. Or from someone.

Kagami now gave Momoi a concerned look, "Why would this Hayato give it to Kuroko? How did you two _even_ meet him?"

Both Kuroko and Momoi glanced at each other. They can't possibly mention Hayato had wanted Momoi to come with him and that he punched Kuroko before. This would only distract them from Nakano.

Catching their faces, Aomine demanded with an light glare, "You better tell us what exactly happened, Tetsu." Tomimura and Sakai were even directly staring at Kuroko as well.

Still puzzled, Kagami asked, "And who's Nakano? What's going on?! Does it have something to do with the Game?" These words slipped out from nowhere. Even his eyes widened. Sakai and Tomimura fell silent. They fixed their eyes at Kagami, thinking where he heard about it. Kagami nervously swallowed his saliva. Since he already brought it up, he told in a low voice, "I... Yeah, I know about it. ...And how Yamauchi died."

"Oh, Kagami-kun," Sakai's eyes saddened. She patted on his shoulder and he avoided her gaze. At the back of her mind, Rinki demanded how he even learned about the truth of Yamauchi's death. Sakai wasn't concerned of that, however. "Then... this means you guys should know too." Sakai now gave Tomimura a concerned face. "Should we, Tomi-chan?"

Momoi was the only one who was unaware of what they were talking about. From one another, she instantly knew they were hiding secrets. "What is it that we should know about?" Momoi asked, clasping her hands together on her lap. "Tomimura-chan? Sakai-chan? Don't leave me in the shadows, everyone."

Silently, Tomimura observed at the others. Aomine and Kuroko looked like they knew a little about the Game, given the serious look on their faces. Bearing in mind about the Boss's recent message, Tomimura sent a nod to Sakai. "Tell them, Sakai," Tomimura considerably approved. The blonde almost trembled at the decision. They both knew Nakano's case was never to bring up. "I mean... it looks like Nakano left a message here... written on this piece of metal that belonged to one of her twin guns."

"Guns?" Momoi stopped breathing. Just how deep was this talk become? Was this why Hayato did not want to involve her and Kuroko of? It was slowly coming together now. And yet, Momoi understood this was just the beginning. There was more, she just know it. "Come to think of it, Hayato said he went through the trouble in finding this."

Tomimura, next to the pink head, asked, "I know we're not getting on track where this conversation is going... but who's Hayato?" Momoi shrugged. Over to Kuroko, he shrugged too.

"Oh!" Sakai shouted, nearly jumping up from the ground.

"What?" Kagami raised his voice a little, hoping it was something significant. He hoped with all his might that it wasn't something like she left the water running at home.

Sakai covered her mouth, nervously lowering her eyes. "Hayato, right?" she confirmed it with herself. "Muyoku Hayato?"

"Do you know him?" Kuroko questioned. His face was showing more interest at this point.

She shook her head, "No, but... an old friend of mine... and Nakano-chan's..." Lifting up her chin, she firmly said, "Her name was Kato Hanako. Along with Nakano-chan, she was one of the first three Bullets when the Game was first created six years ago."

Slightly shocked, Tomimura was surprised to learn about this. Not once did anyone made a reference from the very beginning of the Game. "And what does Kato Hanako have to do with...?" Tomimura hoped her friend would continue.

"Kato-chan," Sakai's voice nearly broke. "Well... she mentioned her best friend was Hayato. That's all I can remember. I never seen him before either."

Aomine made a weird face, "So, what? You shouted just because of that?"

"And there's another thing I should say," Sakai ignored the blue head. She tried to sit more comfortably, but she just couldn't. "The Silver Blade was the one who killed Kato-chan, who must be Hayato's best friend."

"Killed?" Momoi slightly backed away. She was even more horrified now. Guns and killing. Just who are these girls? And what kind of game did they mean earlier?

Eagerly, Kagami urged, "How did the Game came to be, Sakai? Why did it even exist?"

Kuroko directly looked to Sakai, who was unsure. "I don't know how and why there's such a Game," she replied ruefully.

"Then what, you thought it was fun?" Aomine glared. "Why would you, Moto, and the others even think about playing that so-called Game? Are you girls out of your minds?"

Sakai glared right back, "That's none of your business, Ao-kun."

"Don't call me that."

"Kuroko!" Tomimura raised her voice over them, desiring to get back to the topic at hand. "So, all you know is Hayato gave you this. Nothing more?"

The Phantom Man nodded firmly, "Yes."

Quickly, Momoi added, "We also think Kasamatsu-kun have something to do with this."

"Really?" Kagami's eyes popped at her. "Why do you say that?"

"Yukio is his given name, Kagamin," Momoi reminded, looking pass Kuroko to the redhead. "What else could it be?" Kagami blinked, nodding at what she said. He would have never thought of that since he doesn't even know Kasamatsu's given name.

Sakai gave Aomine one last glare before saying to Tomimura, "I think it's Kasamatsu too. Should we give him a call then? Who has his number?"

"Kise, duh," Aomine rolled his eyes. He still wanted to know why these girls joined the Game in the first place. Crazy, little girls must be extremely stupid. "I'll give Kise a call right now."

"Wait," Tomimura told him. The bluehead still took out his phone and held it closely. "...We can't involve more people like Kasamatsu-senpai. We don't even have any idea if he actually knows anything. Nakano would have never told him too."

Momoi nodded, "There's another thing too." She gently reached for the metal piece and showed, "There's another part to this sentence. We must find the other piece to complete it."

"True..." Kuroko stared at Nakano's handwriting. He could tell she must have been in a hurry to write, but was still carefully written. Was she prepared what may have had happened to her? And then leave this message?

"We don't have the other piece though," Sakai countered Momoi's statement.

"Yeah, just call Kise," Aomine agreed.

Sakai gave him a thumps up.

"No, we can't," Tomimura narrowed her eyes at the two, who now sided with each other. "Don't forget, Boss didn't want us to talk about Nakano." Sakai now seemed convinced about it and sat quietly. "I don't know if it's true that the Boss have spies 'everywhere', but if we're going to ask Kise and Kasamatsu..."

"Let's do it secretly then," Kagami shrugged. Quickly, he added, "Let's go and find Kise now, if you girls worry that your BOSS will overhear your talk on the phone."

Momoi and Tomimura thought about it whereas Kuroko nodded. "That's a good idea," he said. "This way, we won't alert the enemy."

"Enemy?" Aomine peered at him.

"It's an expression," Kuroko defended his choice of words.

Sakai reached out to Momoi, who had the metal. The pinkhead handed it to her and Sakai decided without a thought, "I'll hold onto this then. Is that fine, Kuro-kun?" It probably would be safer if it was with her. Because if it was in the hands of Kuroko, who knows what could occur?

"But Sakai-san," Kuroko's eyes showed concern. "Moments ago, you and Tomimura-san noted Nakano must never to discussed." She was taken back, he was right. He raised out his palm and suggested, "It's best if I continue to keep it, do you not think so?"

Kagami blinked, "Kuroko's right about that. I mean, no one is going to notice him anyway."

"Ah, true," Aomine nodded rather confidently.

"Well..." the blonde lowered her eyes. Tomimura gazed to her friend and Sakai smiled at Kuroko. "Alright, keep it safe, Kuro-kun. Thank you." The object then was returned to him.

During their exchange, Momoi had quick thought. She remarked out loud, "Why can't you girls talk about Nakano openly?" They turned their attention to her, who was rubbing her chin. "Did she do something wrong that your Boss said not to talk about her?"

"We don't know," Sakai replied, feeling herself getting a headache. "Our Boss's face was pale when he told us to keep it a secret. I mean, I still don't know what happened to her."

Kuroko looked over to Tomimura, who added, "The only fact is that she was killed outside the Game. It must have had something to do with the Blades and their ruthless Boss."

Now was the good time. Aomine pointed to Tomimura and then at Sakai. "I am still demanding an answer about the Game," he narrowed his eyes. Momoi pouted at him. The least he could do was ask _nicely_. After all, this wasn't a light topic. "What kind of Bosses would make you girls, who all agreed to be a part of, kill the heck of each other?"

Sakai stood up, fixing her hair behind her. "Tomi-chan can explain," she pushed the question aside. "I have to go somewhere else right now."

"Eh?" Kagami's eyes widened at her. "You're leaving already?"

Covering up the guilt for leaving them hanging, she grinned, "I'm a busy girl who got things to tend to." Winking over to Tomimura, she encouraged, "Fill them very little detail, Tomi-chan! I leave it to you!" At the same time she was exiting the room, she took out her phone and dialed away. ' _I'm worried about Liú Wěi and the others too_ ,' she hurried with that thought.

Tomimura frowned as the blonde rushed out the door. Sighing, feeling Aomine and Kagami's eyes gluing to her, she leaned over to the table in front of her. "...Okay then," she closed one of her eyes. She could no longer keep the secret in the dark. They were sincerely curious. Not only that, they were worried too since they knew all of the girls. Tomimura sighed yet again, "Where to begin...?"

Kagami tensed up, but was determined to learn more. The others stared at Tomimura as closely as possible and her face went dry.

"Let's see..." she slowly watched at one to another. "How did you guys hear about this?"

Aomine quickly answered, "From Moto's brother."

She raised her head a little. "...Oma?" He nodded, looking rather unsure. She frowned and rubbed her face. "That must have been a bad experience. He has hated Moto for a while now."

Momoi glanced to Aomine oddly, but only gaze onto Tomimura. Aomine shrugged, "I could have taken him."

Sitting up straight, Tomimura looked to Momoi next to her. "What about you?" she inquired. "How did you hear about the Game?"

"Just now," she answered with an upside down smile. She really felt left out.

Nodding lightly, Tomimura turned her eyes to Kuroko. "Kagami-kun and Kise-kun," he told her. "Yesterday, actually. Back at Yamauchi-san's place."

Becoming more concerned, Tomimura gave Kagami a frown. He gulped and rubbed the back of his head. "And you, Kagami? Who told you?" She could not think of anyone else who could have told him. There was no way her friends would even tell the truth about Yamauchi either. They all were clearly aware that it would only hurt him.

He lowered his eyes for a moment, but stared back at her. "I think her name was... Honda," he tried to recall at the back of his mind. Everyone raised an eyebrow to the unfamiliar name. "When she told me... it was back when Yamauchi died."

"Honda?" Momoi blinked.

Kagami found himself hard to breathe. Being reminded of that day, the time when he heard about Yamauchi's death through the phone was still carved in his heart. "Honda's a Blade," he also remembered.

"A Blade?" Tomimura's eyes widened, completely surprised. "You were in contact with a girl of the Blades, Kagami?"

"What does 'Blade' mean here?" Aomine was quick to ask once again. "Kise did say something about Bullets and Blades when we were at Yama-something's house. Like, guns and knives, right?"

"And that the Game takes place every year," Kuroko faced Tomimura.

For a few seconds, Tomimura gave them all a strange look. Judging by what she was hearing, what was the point in filling them in? Shaking her head, she said, "I assume Kise told you guys everything. Let's stop going over this crap."

"But," Aomine nearly slammed the table with his fist.

"For most people," Tomimura spoke loudly. "I'd imagine that you guys wouldn't even try to talk about it."

"Why wouldn't we?" Aomine started to glare.

She glared right back, "Really, you're all concerned about us?"

"Of course!" Momoi daringly raised her voice. In turn, Tomimura flinched at her sudden tone. "We're friends! We should be asking why, you, Tomimura-chan, would even come out and tell us. This just means we're friends. And I know for certain, that you want us to save you and the other girls."

Tomimura blinked and denied, "That's not true."

"Yes, it is," Momoi pouted.

"We're not _asking_ to be saved," Tomimura narrowed her eyes. Before Momoi could respond, Tomimura told her, "Not me anyway."

Hurt, Momoi's mouth was just left ajar.

"Then you must be out of your mind!" Aomine yelled with an irritated scowl.

"Aomine-kun," Kuroko called, hoping to calm him down with a few more words.

Tomimura gritted her teeth and stood up, returning the fierce look at Aomine. "Sure, I'm out of my mind," she said, calmly however. "So what if Momoi said is half true for some of the girls. I don't know. But there's nothing you guys can do to save anyone in this Game. Face the facts. We voluntarily signed up for this and there's no turning back."

Feeling the atmosphere getting worst, Kuroko observed Aomine first. He looked like he was going to expression more anger than concern. At Momoi and Kagami, they both looked dejected. Kuroko narrowed his own eyes and stood up. Everybody looked at him, who directly leveled his eyes with Tomimura.

"It's okay to turn back," Kuroko assured. Tomimura softened her glare, but didn't take in his words. "It's okay, Tomimura. You should have more faith in yourself. And in us."

Momoi smiled almost sadly at the hands on her lap and Aomine noted her expression. "Satsuki is fond of you girls, don't you get it?" Aomine said, looking the other way. "You shouldn't say anything like you don't want to be saved."

While Momoi simply shifted her body, Tomimura took a step back. "...I think we're done here," Tomimura still disregarded them. This was how she felt and she was not going to apologize. "Excuse me, I'm going to go out for a stroll."

Just as she started to walk around them, Kagami muttered as his eyes lowered, "If I had the chance, I would have tried to save Yamauchi." Tomimura paused at the front door and didn't raise her hand to touch the knob. Her eyes only grew cold, staring at nowhere. Kagami held back tears and said no more. There was no need to say any more. Yamauchi was already gone.

Tomimura slightly looked over her shoulder. They all were still seated, becoming silent. "...Kagami, I admit the Game is wrong now," she told him. He still had an emotional look in his eyes. She didn't want to say it, however he needed to know. "But I never regretted my decision. Not once. My hands are already stained. And I'm not turning back."

As she opened the door, Kuroko raised his head and watched her walk out steadily. Kuroko could tell she meant it. There was not even the slight hesitation. When the door closed without her locking it, Kuroko turned his view to the others. "...I think she wants to die," he naturally commented.

"What?" Aomine's mouth dropped at him.

"I didn't mean it so casually," Kuroko lowered his own eyes. Their mood was affecting him and he didn't know what to do to help them or the girls. "It's just that... what else could it be? Tomimura means everything she says. It sounds... too suicidal."

The room was quiet. There was nothing more to exchange.

Kagami closed his eyes and took a deep breath. ' _There has to be something we can do,_ ' he hoped. He didn't know what, though. He only understood there had to be at least one way to save Yamauchi's friends. Two, at least.

For a little while, Aomine had noticed Momoi's head was still down. So, he fully turned to her to console her. Just then, he realized she was texting and sent it. "Satsuki, who were you messaging?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. For her to do that at such a time, was it important?

Momoi smiled a little, her heart still racing from Tomimura's words. She never answered Aomine and sat quietly, using her head to think about all of this. ' _Hayato never wanted us to get involved_ ,' she processed her thoughts. ' _But we already are_.'

She was very certain they could do something supportive. No matter what Tomimura said, Momoi refused to believe her. Not as long as Tomimura had people she truly cared about.

~o~o~

Back at the hospital, Midorima had sat down on a chair with a sweat coming down his face. Takao was shocked out of his mind, sitting on the bed with the blankets over his legs. Seki, who had told them everything, was standing in the middle of the room. She simply addressed to how the Game took place every year. Blades and Bullets, girls who kill each other for the fun of it. How their deaths were covered up through the two Bosses' connections. Things like that sort.

"Seki-chan," Takao tried to find his voice. She eyed him and he staring at his hand on his leg. "...Don't tell me you find it fun to kill."

She was afraid to answer. But this was a part of her and she shouldn't hide it. "Well," she pushed up her pink glasses. "I simply wanted to shoulder the burden of taking a life. It makes me feel different from everyone."

"Being a murderer doesn't make you any different from other scumbags," Midorima harshly remarked with a low tone.

Smiling to herself, she was sorry to hear that. "If you guys think of me as a murderer, then that's fine," she shrugged. "We don't have to be friends. Just don't get too nosy about the Game from here."

As her footsteps were heard, Takao quickly looked up, "Seki."

"I'm leaving," she said, heading toward the door. "I have to go and take care of things today. I hope your family comes and visit you, Takao. See you. "

Even now, Takao was at loss of words. He merely watched her go until she closed the door on them. He then turned his gaze to the greenhead, who had leaned forward with his elbows on his legs. "Shin-chan..." he quietly called, wanting someone to talk to.

Though, it was very obvious. Midorima was not going to talk like this. The dead look in his eyes... He seemed mad. There were even confusion and concern in those green eyes. So, Takao waited patiently as they both were drowned in their own train of thoughts. They even pictured the possible danger in the near future for these girls. It worried them more than Seki ever would.

~o~o~

In the heat, Akashi was tending to the horses at the large stable, which was located further behind the small mansion. He was brushing a golden-brown horse's back and later giving it water. The workers were also around and could do nothing but let Akashi work with them.

While he was working, he kept noticing the scar on his left forearm. It was done by Ginmori, the day when she suddenly came to attack his father in the house. He kept remembering it _now_ because his friends, the Uncrowned Kings, were prying about it. This was during the time when he invited Katsuo to meet them and train up his basketball skills.

Unlike Kuroko and the others, they never asked about Akashi's scar. They either never saw it or just never thought too much about it.

' _Father did not want me to ask about Ginmori_ ,' Akashi recalled, heading outside to find the water hose.

These pass few hours, Akashi begun to decide to ask him this time. The only reason Akashi did not ask before was because his father wanted to know about the girls he had been with. Thus, if Akashi told his father about the Game, then he will find out about why Ginmori barged into their residence.

He trusted his father will not tell a soul about the Game. That was the kind of man he was. Normally.

"Young Master," a maid called. Akashi stopped walking, nearly where the water hose was at. He made a slight turn as the maid with brown hair approached him with his phone. "You received a text message," she bowed forward.

Having already washed his hands, he gently took it from her. He opened it up and viewed it. "From Satsuki?" he blinked. She would only call or text when it was important. He wondered what happened and clicked to read what she wrote.

 _Knowing you, Akashi-kun, I am sure that you have heard of the Game. Please talk some sense into Tomimura-chan_. That was all Momoi wrote.

He stared at it for some time as the maid assumed he would return the phone and go back to work. However, he closed it and put it in his pocket. He glanced to the maid, "I'm heading to Kanagawa." He rather go there and to call anyone regarding the message.

"Eh?" the maid stood where she was, confused.

As if it was urgent, Akashi rushed himself. "What happened?" he asked himself. And how did Momoi come to learn about the Game?

Upon entering through the back door of the mansion, Akashi made his way through the halls to get to the stairs. He caught a glimpse of his father in one of his study rooms and paused.

"Is something the matter, Seijuurou?" his father, Ichirou, noticed him from his chair.

Akashi evened his breathing from walking fast a minute ago and turned back. He stepped into the room and saw there was no one else around. "Father," he begun, walking further into the room.

With the book in hand, Ichirou brought it down on the desk. Seeing how serious his son was appearing, he watched his son simply taking the seat across from him. "Yes?" Ichirou asked.

"I want to know more about that woman," Akashi went straight to the point. "The intruder who entered our house and tried to kill you."

"Oh?" Ichirou now closed his book. Akashi was sitting up straight, giving all of his attention to his father. "Then that means you're going to tell me what was wrong with those girls you have been with recently?" Ichirou inquired, rather interested himself. It was a matter he had been nervous all this time, especially for his son.

"Her name is Ginmori, if I'm not mistaken," Akashi said.

"Her real name is Akimori Aimi, Seijuurou," his father specified. Akashi did not blink once and let him continue. As Ichirou leaned back on his chair, his fingers intertwined with each other in front of him. "Your turn."

Akashi raised an eyebrow at him. "You are not going to tell me more?"

His father nodded. "I trust you will not tell lies," he said. "However... let us call it 'upfront payment' as an insurance." Akashi was quiet for a few seconds and Ichirou shrugged. "You were the one to ask me first. And all I ask for, right now, is who those girls really are. A couple of words is acceptable. Then we can exchange more information. ...That is, if you are extremely curious about Aimi."

Even with the slightest curiosity he had, Akashi was not certain which part about the girls he should tell first. Perhaps making is simple would be best. Choosing what he say, he kept his eye contact with his father. "They play a 'Game' that takes other people's lives."

Before reacting, Ichirou was observing his son's expression. For such a grave issue, Akashi was rather too calm about it. His eyes never once wavered since he entered the room. Ichirou then nodded, "I see. It sounds disturbing. Have you reported it to the police?"

"I can't," Akashi answered. His father sat uncomfortably, ready to discuss further of such topic. "If I gave them away, who knows what their futures will hold for them?"

Finally, Ichirou saw a spark of emotion. Akashi truly was thinking of these girls from the bottom of his heart. "Even so, taking lives is against morals. You know that, Seijuurou."

"I do, Father," he said, his eyes slightly glowing. "Yet, if you think of it this way: the girls may have wanted to do this themselves. There is no one to blame for killing each other. I do not believe they are at fault."

Ichirou frowned from what he was hearing. "Tell me you're not supporting them on this," he hoped. Akashi shook his head 'no'. "That is good to know, at the very least," his father sighed with relief.

"I have told you more than enough," Akashi switched the topic. "Tell me why Ginmori was aiming to take your life, Father."

This time, it was Ichirou's turn to think where he should begin. There was a chuckle and uncertainties on his face. "It's only fair," he murmured to himself. Akashi finally blinked and was patient. Formally, Ichirou straightened himself up and gave his son a 'fatherly' expression. "Seijuurou... how would you feel if I told you that you have a half-sister?"

Akashi's eyes slightly widened at his question. Or was it a statement? He had forgotten already as he kept asking himself, ' _Half-sister_?'

Was his father saying that Ginmori was his half-sister? That woman with silver hair? That woman who left a scar on his forearm? That woman... who tried to kill his father? Ginmori was a complicated person. Just how was his father going to explain everything that happened up until now?

* * *

Thanks for reading!


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